Graduate School of Development Studies
Jatropha Production and Women’s EmpowerJatropha Productionment
and Women’s Empowerment
(The case of Chindenga
Village in Mutoko District,
(The case of Chindenga
Village in Mutoko District,
Zimbabwe)
Zimbabwe)
A Research Paper presented by:
Lydia Biriwasha
(Zimbabwe)
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for obtaining the degree of
MASTERS OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Specialization:
Rural Livelihoods and Global Change
(RLGC)
Members of the examining committee:
Dr Anirban Dasgupta (Supervisor)
Prof. Dr Max Spoor (Reader)
The Hague, The Netherlands
December, 2010
Disclaimer:
This document represents part of the author’s study programme while at the
Institute of Social Studies. The views stated therein are those of the author and
not necessarily those of the Institute.
Inquiries:
Postal address:
Location:
Telephone:
Fax:
Institute of Social Studies
P.O. Box 29776
2502 LT The Hague
The Netherlands
Kortenaerkade 12
2518 AX The Hague
The Netherlands
+31 70 426 0460
+31 70 426 0799
ii
Dedication
This work is dedicated to my loving parents Felistas and Robert Biriwasha and
the entire Biriwasha family for their love, support and prayers which saw me
complete this project successfully. I also dedicate it to God Almighty for the
strength He gave me each day
iii
Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to give thanks and praise to the Almighty God for taking
me this far. Also I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the
Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education
(NUFFIC) for granting me the scholarship to undertake this program.
To my supervisor Dr, Anirban Dasgupta, I would like to thank you so much
for your cooperation and ever-readiness to guide and support me to make this
paper a success. I am also indebted to my second reader Prof, Dr, Max Spoor
for guidance and support throughout the study. Thank you all for the constructive criticisms and suggestions you always gave me. I must say without
them this paper would not be where it is today.
Also, many thanks go to the women in the Chindenga village, for taking time
to talk to me amidst their busy schedules. I would also like to express my appreciation to the various organisations that provided me with information during my field study: Plan International (Mutoko), National Oil Company of
Zimbabwe (NOCZIM), Finealt Engineers, and the Ministry of Energy and
Power Development. Their responses were of great value to this paper.
I also owe a debt of gratitude to the Rural Livelihoods and Global Change
(RLGC) specialisation. I must say it was a great team of ladies and the experiences we shared from different countries were awesome, they helped me a lot.
To the teaching staff I would like to thank you for your commitment and encouragement rendered throughout the project.
Lastly, to all my dear friends Gracious Ncube, Felicity Munemo, and Patience
Matandiko – you were a family away from home. I will cherish the good times
we shared in this place. And to my fellow country people at the Institute of
Social Studies, I would like to thank you for the support and prayers throughout this project.
iv
Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgements
List of Tables
List of Tables
List of Figures
List of Maps
List of Acronyms
Abstract
iii
iv
vii
vii
vii
vii
ix
x
CHAPTER ONE: Introduction
1
1.1 Introduction and Background
1
1.2 Methods of Data Collection and Limitations
3
1.3 Limitations
4
CHAPTER TWO: Conceptual Framework
5
2.1 Introduction
5
2.2 Biofuel Production the debate
5
2.3 Conceptualising Empowerment
7
2.4 Analysis
10
CHAPTER THREE: Contextualising the Research projects
11
3.1 Introduction
11
3.2 The nature of the Biofuel Policy in Zimbabwe
3.2.1 Economic Situation
11
12
3.3 The Nature of Plan International projects
13
3.4 Nature of NOCZIM projects
14
3.5 The Study area
14
CHAPTER FOUR: Analysis and Discussion of Findings
17
4.1 Introduction
17
4.2 Why the Jatropha project was thought to have a lasting impact on
women.
17
4.3 Resources
18
4.4 Sense of Agency
4.4.1 Decision making on how proceeds from Jatropha are used
4.4.2 Who makes decisions on family issues
20
20
22
v
4.5 Achievements
4.5.1 Non Production income empowerment
23
26
4.6 What went wrong?
4.6.1 Conflicts within the community
4.6.2 Distribution and Marketing
4.6.3 Macro – Politics
27
28
29
30
4.7 What does it mean for such projects: are such projects useful even if
they bring the focus on women?
31
4.8 Sustainability of such a project
32
4.9 Conclusion
33
CHAPTER FIVE: Conclusions
References
Appendices
34
1
4
Appendix A: Semi – structured interview guide
4
Appendix B: Field Pictures
7
vi
List of Tables
Table 1: who makes decisions on family issues in the households?
22
List of Figures
Figure 1: Who decides on how proceeds from Jatropha can be used?
21
List of Maps
Map 1: Map of Zimbabwe showing the study area
vii
viii
Map 1: Map of Zimbabwe showing the study area
Map of Zimbabwe showing the area of study (Mutoko District)
Accessed from (Google Images)
1
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nationsonline.org/maps/zimba
bwe_map.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/zimbabwe_
map2.htm&usg=__kvy5I6jvKFZP0KKWO
viii
List of Acronyms
AGRITEX
Agricultural Technical and Extension Service
DA
District Administrator
FGD
Focus Group Discussion
GoZ
Government of Zimbabwe
IMF
International Monetary Fund
JCL
Jatropha Carcus
NGO
Non Governmental Organisation
NOCZIM
National Oil Company of Zimbabwe
RBZ
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
USD
United States Dollar
ZELA
Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association
ix
Abstract
Biofuel production has been gaining increased significance in most developing
countries including Zimbabwe over the last five years. They are now seen as an
alternative to fossil fuels. In Zimbabwe the production of Jatropha for biodiesel has been on the rise since 2005. This paper examines whether Jatropha
production in Mutoko district’s Chindenga Village empowered women who
were involved in the project. Women’s empowerment was not one of the objectives of the project but it is noted that women were the ones who were
working on the project and also they are more attracted to the by-products
from Jatropha. However, there is no comprehensive policy which seeks to
work with women and to empower them.
In looking at whether women were empowered, the paper used Kabeer
(2001)’s three dimensions of empowerment and also reviewed literature on
empowerment. Findings from the study show some notable changes in the
lives of the women who were involved in the projects. The study also reviewed
that the project impacted on women in this community differently. The issue
of power relations amongst the women in this community made a great difference in terms of the impact of the project on the lives of the women. There
were some women who were more empowered than the others and some who
disempowered others. The political and economic situation prevailing during
the implementation of the project was also found to have contributed to the
abrupt ending of the project.
x
Relevance to Development Studies
Women are one of the marginalised groups in most developing countries. The
way poverty hits on women is totally different from the way it hits men. In
most cases it is women who borne the burden of poverty because they are the
ones responsible for the families whilst in most cases men migrate to urban
areas to look for employment. There is need to study projects that women are
involved in and see whether they are empowering women. Women empowerment can potentially lead to poverty reduction at household level. On the
whole women empowerment will lead to the development of the country as a
whole.
Keywords
Agro-fuels/ Gender/Empowerment/ Bio-fuels /
Jatropha/Resources/Agency/ Achievements/ Zimbabwe
xi
CHAPTER ONE: Introduction
1.1 Introduction and Background
Jatropha Carcus. L (JCL) or physic nut has gained significance in Zimbabwe
over the past five years. It is now seen as an opportunity to increase the country’s energy independence as well as reduce the negative influence of fossil
fuels on the environment. Jatropha is also seen as a solution to improve rural
lives and livelihoods since its production targets rural farmers in arid and semiarid regions of the country. Known as Mujitimono or Umhlafuto in Zimbabwe’s Shona and Ndebele languages respectively, the plant can be grown on
marginal lands and can be used in rural agro-industrial development. Oil can be
pressed from the seed and used for bio-diesel and other by-products such as
soap, candles and lubricants.
In 2005 the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) made a policy decision to
have an import substitution biofuel programme. The policy gave the National
Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) the mandate to run all biofuel projects
in the country. NOCZIM is a government parastatal company that is responsible for procuring and managing the country’s petroleum needs. The GoZ
banned the export of Jatropha in its bid to extensively develop the plant and
reduce the need to import all fuel requirements for the country and in the process save some foreign currency on fuel imports. The main objectives of the
draft energy policy are to, ‘produce biodiesel equivalent to 10% of Zimbabwe’s
fossil diesel imports per annum – this equate to about 100 million litres of biodiesel per annum from 120 000 hectares of plantations’ (NOCZIM, 2010:1).
The Jatropha project is being driven by political, economic and social factors (ibid). The political motivation to invest into biofuels was driven by the
need for the country to overcome serious fossil fuel shortages. When the project was initiated in 2005, the economy lacked balance of payment support
from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), therefore the need to initiate a
biofuel programme. The economic motivation to invest into biofuels was driven by the continuous rise of fossil fuel prices on the international market. Also,
‘the economy of Zimbabwe depends on petroleum imports, is particularly vulnerable to the price of oil on the international market’ (NOCZIM 2010: 2)
hence, the need to initiate the Jatropha project so that it offsets the foreign
currency demands. Lastly, the major social driver behind the Jatropha project
was that, it would improve the lives and livelihoods of rural farmers through an
alternative source of income. It was also projected that the venture would create employment for the rural households especially those in the arid and semi –
arid regions of the country (ibid).
In rural Zimbabwe it is “mostly” women who provide most of the labour
at household level because they are usually the ones who are left in the rural
areas whilst men migrate to look for jobs in urban areas. According to Gandure (2009) it is mostly women who are involved in the production of biofuels,
yet there is no policy that directly seeks or targets to work with women. Wom1
en work in the Jatropha projects yet it is men who are registered as owners of
the projects. When it comes to selling the products it is again men who take
the lead yet they are not involved in the production of the crop. Arguably, the
project has got the potential to empower women because it targets rural communities in the marginal lands of Zimbabwe and seeks to enhance the livelihoods of people in these communities. Women constitute a greater percentage
of people who live in the rural areas hence they stand a greater chance to benefit from the project.
Against this background, the current study intends to find out if Jatropha
production is empowering rural women in Chindenga village. The paper seeks
to find out the interests of women involved in the Jatropha projects and establish their major motivating factors for implementing the project. The study will
determine whether Jatropha projects are empowering women who are actively
involved. Women empowerment is considered a vehicle to increase the pace of
development in marginalised communities and for this reason gender issues
take centre stage in development studies. The socially constructed roles between men and women tend to disadvantage women as they have limited access to productive resources. In most rural communities, men make the major
decisions at the household level, including how resources are allocated, and
often suppress women’s decision making power.
The main objective of the research is to find out if Jatropha production
empowers rural women in Mutoko district’s Chindenga Village. Given that it is
women who are mostly involved in the Jatropha project and that they find the
by-products more attractive. The main research question that this research
seeks to answer is: Does the Jatropha project empower rural women in Chindenga Village, Zimbabwe? In answering this question, the following sub- research questions were used: To what extent do women have access to means
of production such as land in Chindenga village? What are the terms of incorporation for women in the Jatropha project? What has been the effect of
Jatropha production on women in terms of decision making and work burden?
Lastly, what has been the difference in terms of impact between the different
classes of women involved in the project?
Kabeer (2001)’s three dimensions of empowerment were used to analyse
whether there have been changes in the lives of the women since the inception
of the project in Chindenga village. According to Kabeer, ‘one way of thinking
about power is in terms of the ability to make choices’ (2001:18). Therefore
she gives three dimensions in which people can exercise choices which are, ‘resources, agency and achievements’ (ibid). According to her if one is able to exercise these choices then they are empowered. In addition, the study engaged
in different literature on empowerment. This was necessary in analysing the
politics that happen locally that may affect women of different economic status
in the community. The research technique that was used was qualitative in nature. Methods such as interviews, focus group discussion (FGD) and observation were used. More on the methodology will be looked at in depth the following section.
The paper will be structured as follows: Section 1.2 gives the methods of
data collection and limitations. Chapter 2 presents the Conceptual framework
that will be used to analyse the data. Chapter 3 gives the context of the re2
search. Chapter 4 discusses the findings as well as analyse the data presented
and lastly Chapter 5 gives conclusions to the issues discussed in this paper.
1.2 Methods of Data Collection and Limitations
In order to find answers to the questions raised in the preceding section, the
research technique that was used was qualitative in nature. The researcher utilized both secondary and primary sources of data in the research. The field
study was conducted in Mutoko district’s Chindenga village in rural Zimbabwe.
Chindenga village was chosen because it is an area where Jatropha has been
grown since time immemorial it was used as hedge around household gardens.
The community was considered to be better placed in terms of women’s empowerment since projects have been going on for some time in that locality.
As far as the secondary data was concerned relevant literature was reviewed, information was gathered from journal articles, the energy draft policy,
organisational and governmental reports. These helped in formulating the
background of the research as well as to build on the conceptual framework
which will be used to analyse data in the paper
To gather primary data, a fieldwork study was undertaken from July 18th to
August 15th 2010 in Mutoko District’s Chindenga village, Zimbabwe. Forty interviews were carried out, thirty-two with women involved in the Jatropha project and eight with women who are not involved in the project. This was done
in order to get the perspective of those not involved and the impact on lives of
women involved. The semi-structured in-depth interviews were chosen because they are very helpful in getting sensitive information from respondents.
Laws et al., argue that interviews are very useful if the information being reviewed is sensitive, ‘if the issue is sensitive, and people may not be able to
speak freely in groups.’ (2003: 286) In addition the interview method was also
used to interview officers from organisations such as Plan International,
NOCZIM, Finealt and Ministry of Energy and Power Development
In order to select interviewees, firstly, a focus group discussion was conducted. The group was made up of nine women, with the number purposively
chosen to keep discussions interactive and manageable. The main purpose of
the FGD was to gather information on whether Jatropha projects were being
done in the area and to find out who were mostly involved in the Jatropha projects. Laws et al. highlight that FGDs are used when one, ‘needs guidance in
setting a framework for some larger – scale research about what people see as
the issues to them.’ (2003:299).
The snowball method was used to contact the respondents for the interviews. It started with a woman who was involved in the FGD and then from
there identified others. The snowball method was considered to be the best
because people from this community could easily identify with one another
and they knew where each other stay and how they were progressing with their
projects. They also knew who was available at home at that moment the interviews were conducted, this actually saved time.
3
Moreover, observation was used throughout the whole field study. This
was helpful because one could essentially pick up the link of what was being
said in the interviews and what was observable on the ground. In most cases it
is not enough to rely on what you hear from respondents because at times
people tend to protect themselves and hide other very important issues that
could be very important for the research.
To uphold the principle of confidentiality, the study will not make reference to the original names of the persons interviewed in this paper.
1.3 Limitations
This study has some limitations. One major issue is that the research was conducted outside the agriculture season. Some of the women who could have
been selected as respondents were not in the community having visited their
relatives in the different parts of the country. However it was fortunate that
from the different groups in the community the researcher was able to find
some respondents.
Another limitation was that the research was done during the constitution
making outreach process in Zimbabwe. This was a process where outreach
teams where moving around communities in Zimbabwe gathering views for a
new constitution. The three main political parties then ran programmes to sensitize their supporters on what issues to point out for inclusion in the new constitution. It was very sensitive to discuss some issues especially issues to do
with access to land because they were some of the issues that were being debated in the draft Constitution. The issue of land evokes mixed emotions in
Zimbabwe and the researcher could have easily been mistaken for being a political agent. Mutoko district is a politically sensitive area and, one has to be really cautious of what to say or ask in the communities. However, the researcher
was able to get most of the required information because the whole field study
was done in the company of an Agriculture Technical and Extension Service
officer (AREX). Furthermore, the District Administrator (DA) of the area had
seen all the questions that were going to be discussed in the community.
4
CHAPTER TWO: Conceptual Framework
2.1 Introduction
This chapter reviews the literature and discusses some of the important debates
in understanding biofuel production and women’s empowerment. The framework will therefore be based on the different conceptualisations of empowerment. In order to understand whether women were empowered by the
Jatropha project, the analysis will draw on the various conceptualisations of
empowerment but will mainly draw on the three dimensions of empowerment
by Kabeer (2001). This analysis is crucial because it raises questions on whether
empowerment is possible especially when projects aim to empower a certain
group of people with different economic status in a particular community. It
must be noted that it was not one of the objectives of the project to empower
women, but it is women who are interested in the project, as well as working
on the project. Hence it had the potential to empower women in Mutoko district’s Chindenga village.
2.2 Biofuel Production the debate
Biofuel production has attracted a great deal of debate in development studies
over the last two decades. It is seen by many as a substitute to fossil fuels
hence many countries have resorted to biofuel production. However the production of biofuels has not been just received by all with open hands. There is
a strong debate around the production of biofuels. On the one hand are those
who see biofuel production as good for development. For example commentators from the corporate sector are positive about the production of biofuels,
for instance, Mathews argues for the integration of biofuel production with
already existing agriculture, ‘thereby raising yields overall and facilitating the
feeding of an expanded population in a sustainable fashion’ (2009:614). On
the other hand are those that see biofuel production as essentially bad for development particularly environmentalists. They argue against the production of
biofuels because they say that they are harmful to the environment. White and
Dasgupta arguing from a political economy approach highlight that, ‘Agrofuels
feedstock production, at least in its first-generation form, is accelerating rather
than slowing down global warming’ (2010:4). Clancy argues that, ‘there are
strong concerns voiced that biofuels will result in increased hunger as tropical
crops are diverted away from household food utilisation in the South to ‘feed’
the cars of households in the North’ (2008:419). Also there are those who see
biofuel production as a different form of renewable energy but at the same
time see the negative and positive aspects of the production of biofuels. For
example organisations such as the Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) see
the potential that biofuels have but at the same they also see that biofuel production can compromise on food security. Pingali et al. (2008) highlight that
5
there is nothing special about the use of land for non-food crops as this is the
same with the production of any other cash crop.
In this study the emphasis will be on Jatropha which is one of the biomass
used in biofuel production. According to Hunsberger, Jatropha is, ‘a small tree
that produces oily seeds, Jatropha proponents champion its supposed ability to
grow in semi-arid areas that are not considered arable, these claims have supported a perception that Jatropha could represent a ‘sustainable’ means of producing biofuels’ (2010:940). In Zimbabwe, biofuel production has not yet progressed into massive processing of Jatropha into biodiesel. The projects are still
in their early stages hence there is not yet much literature on the impact of biofuel production. Most of the debates so far in the literature centre on land and
environmental issues. Mtisi and Makore (2010) argue that the land tenure system in Zimbabwe has great implications in the production of biofuels since
almost all the land in the rural areas belongs to the government. They highlight
that, ‘land tenure system in Zimbabwe has great implications for biofuel crop
production as the production of feedstock for biodiesel relies on conversion of
agricultural land or marginal land for growing Jatropha and sugar cane at both
the communal and commercial level’ (Mtisi and Makore,2010:14). The same is
argued by Gandure (2009) in his study on the roles of women in Jatropha projects. Mujeyi also highlights that, ‘the size of arable land that a farmer possesses
has a negative and significant relationship with the probability of adopting
commercial utilization of Jatropha’ (2009:45). The land issue is mentioned in
most of the literature on biofuel production in Zimbabwe, it is a critical issue
as land is one of the most important resources in biofuel production and agriculture as whole.
On environmental sustainability Tigere et al. (2006) in their study on
the potential of Jatropha Curcas in improving livelihoods in Zimbabwe argue
that Jatropha helps in controlling soil erosion as well as rehabilitation of degraded lands, this is also clearly brought out in a study by Gandure (2009).
However, there are no known specific cases where soil erosion has been controlled or where degraded lands were rehabilitated in their studies.
In the literature review above, there are no issues that have to do with
Jatropha production and women empowerment. There seems to be more focus on the land and environmental issues in relation to biofuel production.
Gandure (2009) in his study on women’s roles in Jatropha production focuses
on the roles of women in Jatropha production. However, the study does not
look at whether Jatropha production empowers women. This study, therefore,
seeks to explore whether Jatropha production has in any way empowered rural
women in Mutoko district’s Chindenga village. It also sets to explore the political economy of empowerment in trying to understand whether the project is
empowering or disempowering to these women.
Jatropha production can potentially empower rural women because it is
women who are mostly involved in Jatropha production and also women are
more attracted to the project because of the by-products. Tigere et al. highlight
that, ‘since the JCL shrub has been declared the specific crop, this has empowered the female smallholder farmers who can now generate household income
from the sales of seed and JCL seed cake. This has to some extent addressed
gender equity in terms of income generation.’(2006:7). In the same line Gan6
dure argues that, ‘the participation of women is most visible in farming activities, as they are considered a reliable source of labour at the household level or
through women’s groups’ (2009:44).
2.3 Conceptualising Empowerment
Empowerment is a broad concept which cannot be easily defined and explained. This was aptly stated by Shetty when she says, ‘empowerment is like
obscenity, you don’t know how to define it but you know it when you see it’
(1991:8). Longwe highlights that empowerment is the most central issue in the
gender studies that helps , ‘to enable women to take an equal place with men
and to participate equally in the development process in order to achieve control over the factors of production on equal basis with men’ (1991:150).
Different organisations have got different indicators for empowerment. As argued by Fonderson:
World Bank, tend to see women’s active participation in the market economy as
a sign of empowerment, most Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), women’s advocates and members of the donor community believe an increase in
women’s income enables them to provide for the family, reduces dependence on
their husbands, and in turn, fosters self esteem and greater participation in the
household decision –making. Although these various conceptualisations emphasize different aspect(s) of empowerment, they nevertheless share one common
feature – the belief that empowerment is above all a slow and dynamic process of
women’s struggle to gain power. (2002:184).
Agarwal defines empowerment as, ‘a process that enhances the ability of disadvantaged (“powerless”) individuals or groups to challenge and change (in their
favour) existing power relations that place them in subordinate economic, social and political positions’ (1996:276). She also mentions that these changes
can happen in groups or movements, she highlights access to resources as a
vital way to empower women, ‘entitling women with land could empower
them economically, as well as strengthen their ability to challenge social and
political gender inequalities’ (ibid). The emphasis is that for rural women to be
empowered they should have access to land because it gives them more voice
and, without land titles women are subject to abuse by their husbands. She
highlights that, ‘land rights can also improve the treatment a woman receives
from other family members by strengthening their bargaining power’ (ibid:
277). The main emphasis is that for women to be empowered there must be a
change in the power relations that have traditionally placed women in weak
positions, that is women have to be in a position where they can freely make
decisions without fearing abuse from their husbands. Her argument is in line
with Kabeer (2001) who argues access to resources and agency as part of the
dimensions of empowerment that need to be changed for one to be empowered. She mentions that access to resources is conditioned by the rules, norms
and practices therefore until there is some change in the structure then women
cannot be empowered. However, Mahmood (2003) looking at the portrayal of
third world women, challenges their portrayal as passive beings. She challenges
the liberal idea that being free is linked to agency by Kabeer (2001). She ques7
tions the definition of agency and asks who defines what self actualisation really is, and goes on to question what development is.
Rai (2002) looking at the quota debate in India sees the term empowerment as a discourse that in real sense does not intend to empower but to seduce people to think they can be empowered. She argues that, ‘the discourse of
empowerment is not really a discourse of power. It addresses audiences as if
they were all potential converts to the cause. Further there is a tendency to
homogenize the actors engaged in the struggles for empowerment, 'The people’, ‘women’, are presented without sufficient differentiation.’ (2002:135) Empowerment is a concept that has gained so much importance in development
projects, it looks at the beneficiaries as if there are no differences yet in the
study by Rai (2002) on quota system in India it is clear that the issue of class
tends to play a role, ‘the issue of class is at the heart of the process of engendering development’ (ibid).Also arguing on the impact of class on issues of empowerment Hoskyns and Rai argue that, ‘the privileging of gender over class,
together with the grip of the political parties on access to political system, results in a profile of women representatives which in turn raises issues about
accountability’ (1998:346). In this case it was highlighted that mostly influential women, those from better caste and also those from known families are the
ones who got the positions in government. This actually raises questions
whether projects that seek to empower women really mean to empower women at all. The issue of power relations play a crucial role in such projects to
such an extent that instead of the whole group being empowered it is only
those who hold powerful positions who tend to benefit more than the rest.
‘The question of empowerment cannot be disassociated from the question of
relations of power within different socio-political systems’ (ibid: 145).
Staudt also argues that, ‘Large-scale, macro level structures have set the
stage that disempower people, and yet staff from some of those structures revisit the stage with empowerment language’ (2002:97). According to her argument such processes do not empower because marginalised groups do not acquire the power they need to be able to shift power relations. These macro
level structures such as governments or multi –lateral and bilateral organisations involved in funding projects play a very important role. In most cases
they have their own interests to protect yet they use the term ‘empowerment’
to draw marginalised people to their activities. In the same line Rao and
Kelleher posit that, ‘Organisational structures tend to reinforce the power of a
few, who, for the most part are unwilling to give up the privileges of power.
Even when power is shared, decision making remains in the hands of a small
number of senior people.’(2005:58). these arguments are very important in understanding whether women in Chindenga village are being empowered. It
moves from looking at what women ought to have in order to be empowered
to what really takes place in the organisations that bring projects to the marginalised.
This research paper will zero in on Kabeer (2001)’s 3 dimensions of empowerment, with some insights drawn from other scholars. To see whether a
program has empowered or disempowered people it can be seen through different dimensions. This is what Kabeer (2001:19) refers as the 3 dimensions of
empowerment. The dimensions include: Resources, Agency and Achievements.
8
According to Kabeer, ‘empowerment refers to the expansion in people’s ability
to make strategic life choices in a context where this ability was previously denied to them’ (ibid).These changes can therefore be thought of in terms of the
three dimensions. It is against these dimensions that this research will analyse
the data. Also different conceptualisations of empowerment will be used.
According to Kabeer (2001) the three dimensions are interrelated in such a
way that a change in one contributes a change in the other, ‘the achievements
of a particular moment translated into enhanced resources or agency, hence
capacity for making choices, at a later moment’ (Kabeer, 2001: 19) Resources,
‘which form the conditions under which choices can be made’ (ibid) is one of
the dimensions. According to Kabeer (2001:19) resources can be, ‘material,
social or human’. Resources refer to more than physical/material resources but
go further to look at the social resources that is the kind of networks and connections that surrounds a person’s life and also human resources which involves the knowledge as well as skills that individuals have. The way resources
are distributed and the different kind of relationships that exist are very important as far as empowerment is concerned, ‘these rules, norms and practices
give some actors authority over others in determining the principles of distribution and exchange within that sphere’ (Kabeer ,2001:20). The issue of different power dimensions in communities tend to make powerful actors benefit
more. Kabeer posits that, ‘ the terms on which people gain access to resources
are as important as the resources themselves when issues of empowerment is
considered empowerment entails a change in terms on which resources are acquired as much as an increase in access to resources’ (ibid).
Agency, the other dimension of empowerment, it is ‘the heart of the process by which choices are made’ (Kabeer, 2001: 19). It can be defined as, ‘the
ability to define one’s goals and act upon them. Agency is more than observable action; it also encompasses the meaning, motivation and purpose which
individuals bring to their activity, their sense of agency, or ‘the power within’’
(Kabeer, 2001: 21). According to Kabeer (2001) agency can be both negative
and positive. Positive in the sense of the ‘power to’ that is, ‘people’s capacity to
define their own life choices and pursue their own goals, even in the face of
opposition from others’ and negative in the sense of ‘power over’ that is, ‘the
capacity of an actor or category of actors to override the agency of others, for
instance through the use of violence, coercion, and threat’ (Kabeer, 2010: 19).
However, she also argues that power can also be exercised without agency, ‘the
norms and rules governing social behaviour tend to ensure that certain outcomes are reproduced without any apparent agency’ (ibid).
Achievements ‘are the outcomes of the choices’ they constitute the other
dimension of empowerment (ibid). ‘ Resources and agency together constitute
what Sen refers to as capabilities, the potential that people have for living the
lives they want, of achieving valued ways of ‘being and doing’’ (Kabeer,
2001:21). These ways of ‘being and doing’ are what is valued by people in a
particular place or context. ‘Where failure to achieve valued ways of ‘being and
doing’ can be traced to laziness, then the issue of power is not relevant. When,
however, the failure to achieve reflects asymmetries in the underlying distribution of capabilities, it can be taken as a manifestation of disempowerment’
(ibid)
9
The emergency of Jatropha has been gaining popularity in most developing countries including Zimbabwe. Thus, some scholars perceive Jatropha production and biofuel production in general as a way of improving the livelihoods of rural people, of which women constitute the greatest percentage of
people living in the rural areas and are the ones who are more involved in
Jatropha production. This framework will be used to analyse whether the
Jatropha project has empowered rural women or not. However, this research
although focusing on Kabeer (2001)’s 3 dimensions of empowerment it is not
ignorant of the fact that there is more to empowerment. According to Parpart
et al,
Empowerment can also be seen as an outcome that can be measured against
expected accomplishments. Attempts to measure outcomes are important as a
means for keeping development practitioners and policy – makers honest. At
the same time, we caution against too ready assumptions that the achievements
of stated goals is proof of individual or group empowerment. (2002:4).
2.4 Analysis
This paper looks at whether women have got access to resources, are able to
make decisions about their own activities both at household level and outside
the household and also looks at the political economy of empowerment, that
is, seeing whether the issue of different power relations amongst the women in
the community has got any consequences as far as empowerment is concerned.
The analysis is guided by the three dimensions of empowerment by Kabeer (2001). It sees whether all the dimensions (resources, agency and
achievements) are apparent in the lives of the women involved in the project.
However, as mentioned by (Parpart et al, 2002: 4), issues of empowerment go
further than measuring the stated goals. The analysis will also be guided by the
different conceptualisations of empowerment discussed in the literature review
above.
10
CHAPTER THREE: Contextualising the Research projects
3.1 Introduction
This Chapter discusses the background of the Jatropha project in Zimbabwe.
It looks at the nature of the biofuel policy and at the different organisations
that worked in Mutoko, how they were working with the communities and sees
whether this empowered or disempowered the rural women in the locality. The
chapter also looks at the characteristics of the study area as well as the situation
of the women in Chindenga village. It seeks to give background to the next
chapter.
3.2 The nature of the Biofuel Policy in Zimbabwe
As mentioned earlier according to NOCZIM ‘the biofuel policy is being driven
by political, economic and social drivers’ (2010:1). Although all these factors
inform the draft Energy Policy and some work on Jatropha production is already underway, the policy is still in the draft form it has not yet been published as a national policy hence it cannot be relied on as a comprehensive policy to promote biofuels. However, all the principles were presented as the
cabinet white paper on the principles for biofuels development in 2007. Mtisi
and Makore highlight that:
The cabinet White paper on the principles for biofuels development and use in
Zimbabwe that was presented to cabinet by the Minister of Energy and Power
Development on 18 December 2007 is the only policy document that gives insight into government’s intentions on the production, distribution and marketing
of biofuels in Zimbabwe (2010:9).
Poor relations between the GoZ and its western allies led to the initiation
of biofuel production, ‘As the situation further deteriorated the government
reasoned that in order to beat the fuel shortages caused by “economic sanctions” they should produce biofuels’ (Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), 2010:8). The GoZ without a proper plan responded to the fuel
problem by embarking on a hurried biodiesel feedstock programme, where
they sought to plant Jatropha Curcas in all the 10 provinces of the country.
The projects were launched in 2005 in the Mutoko district where they also began to construct a biofuel plant to process the biodiesel. However, all this was
done without a substantive biofuel policy in place. This was clearly put by
ZELA:
This was done in the absence of any comprehensive and specific national policy
and legal framework as well as investment in thorough research on biofuels. The
Minister of Energy and Power Development only presented to Cabinet a white
paper on “Principles for biofuels development and use” which stated government position and direction in the development of biofuels. (ibid)
11
The Cabinet white paper highlights that one of the intentions of the government was to take into account the interests of rural communities. The government expressed that people from the communal areas could form groups
which will help them provide more feedstock for biofuels production. The
principles also set categories of farmers who are targeted by the project that is
communal and small scale farmers who have 5 hectares of land and above. In
most communal areas in Zimbabwe the households do not have access to
more than 5 hectares of land yet the project clearly highlights that it intends to
work with communal areas that have access to 5 hectares. This was something
that was a misplaced because that category of communal households with access to 5 hectares of land rarely exists in Zimbabwe. However, this arrangement tends to exclude most of the communal farmers especially women who
are mostly involved in Jatropha production because in most cases they do not
have access to 5 hectares of land. Clancy argues that, ‘where women do exercise control over land, they face barriers to participation in new initiatives requiring significant levels of investment since they have difficulties accessing
credit, often lacking title to land, livestock or other property required as collateral for loans’ (2008:422) In most cases they are only supported with technical
expertise and seedlings only. This then does not take the women through the
whole empowerment process; it offers half of what is required. Kabeer (2001)
highlights that empowerment is a “process” and this was also reinstated by
Parpart et al. , ‘empowerment is both a process and an outcome is a process in
that it is fluid, often unpredictable, and requires attention to the specificities of
struggle over time and place’ (2002:4). The draft policy does not specify supporting women in the communal areas yet from the studies conducted Gandure (2009) it was found that women are the ones who are more involved in
Jatropha production.
3.2.1 Economic Situation
The project was implemented during a decade when the country was going
through a rough economic crisis. It was challenging for most organisations to
keep running their projects because of the escalating inflation. According to
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, ‘The hyperinflation that characterized Zimbabwe’s economy for almost a decade seriously impacted on the country’s payment systems, particularly in 2008’ (RBZ, 2009:2). In June 2009 the Bank introduced a multi currency payment system, ‘the multicurrency payment system
allows trade to be completed using major currencies’ (ibid). This affected most
projects that were already running including the Jatropha project. The same
Bank (RBZ) was funding the Jatropha project and had constraints in accessing
the foreign currency that was needed in the project. Therefore, the project was
put on hold because of lack of funds needed to keep the project running.
12
3.3 The Nature of Plan International projects
Plan International is an NGO that is working in Mutoko district in the Chindenga ward. It has different kinds of projects currently running in the area.
Among the projects being done by this organisation is the Jatropha project.
According to the officer interviewed, the project was started after having learnt
from what was being done in Binga an area in the Matabeleland province in the
South of Zimbabwe where Jatropha is grown extensively. The project was
mainly aimed at empowering communities in the Mutoko District.
Jatropha is a multipurpose and drought tolerant plant which produces oil
that can be used for various purposes including bio-diesel. This was clearly
highlighted by Mujeyi when he says, ‘Jatropha is a multipurpose and droughtresistant large shrub the shelled seeds contain (35% by weight) viscous oil
(SIRDC, 1998), which can be used for the manufacturing of candles and soap,
in the cosmetic industry’ (2009:38). These by-products can be a catalyst to enable rural women to alleviate poverty and also to empower themselves. Thus
Plan International works towards empowering households, through the byproduct projects.
Plan international provides the communities with workshops on how byproducts can be made from Jatropha. According to Kabeer (2001) this actually
enhanced the skills of the women because they were capacitated to do what
they previously could not do such as making the by-products. The organisation
also distributed nine oil pressing machines that were put at various central
points in the community for use by households interested in the projects. The
machines could freely be used by anyone involved in the project. Trainings and
also the machinery were provided by Plan International to the households involved in the project , this is what Kabeer( 2001) refers to as ‘resources’ one of
the dimensions of empowerment.
The organisation does not give the women inputs to make the soap or
candles, all they give is the technical know-how of making these by-products.
The fact that women are not given inputs to start the project in some sense can
be argued to be disempowering, because most of them failed to achieve their
goals due to lack of access to the required inputs. Kabeer argues that, ‘the failure to achieve reflects asymmetries in the underlying distribution of capabilities, it can be taken as a manifestation of disempowerment’ (2001:22) Also it
does not go further to link the producers with markets. According to the officer,
All we seek to do is to empower these communities using resources that are locally produced, but they have to look for their own inputs as well as markets. We were only able
to provide 9 oil pump machines as well as workshops on how to make the by-products.
We believe that if we continue to give them everything, they will become depended and the
project will not be sustainable’ (Mr Gudo, personal Interview in Mutoko, 16/07/10).
Plan International has since stopped working on the Jatropha project because, according to the officer,
The organisation is avoiding to clash with the national objective which seeks to produce
Jatropha for biofuel production (Mr Gudo, Personal Interview in Mutoko,
16/07/2010).
13
3.4 Nature of NOCZIM projects
Biofuels are now seen as a substitute to fossil fuels, and, therefore, for countries like Zimbabwe which rely on importing fuel, biofuel production comes as
an opportunity for them to increase their energy independence. Therefore, the
GoZ tasked NOCZIM to run all the biofuel projects in Zimbabwe. From the
interviews conducted with NOCZIM it was reviewed that,
By the end of 2009 we had established about one hundred and twenty three (123) hectares of Jatropha in Mutoko district. Nation wide we have established three thousand
three hundred and thirty seven hectares (3337). Also, we have distributed forty one million seedlings nation wide for hedges around gardens or homes. (Mr Tsuro, personal interview in Harare, 16/08/10).
This is still far from the objectives that were set by NOCZIM at the beginning of the project. Their objective was to, ‘produce biodiesel equivalent to
10% of Zimbabwe’s fossil diesel imports per annum – this equate to about 100
million litres of biodiesel per annum from 120 000 hectares of plantations’
(NOCZIM, 2010:1).
NOCZIM works with communal farmers through contract farming for
the production of Jatropha. The parastatal provides tillaging as well as inputs
that are required by the farmers to plant Jatropha. However, in the Chindenga
ward, NOCZIM does not contract any farmers because households do not
have access to 5 hectares of land. It only gives technical assistance and seedlings to farmers who are interested in the project.
The main role that NOCZIM plays in the area is to buy Jatropha seeds
from farmers and ideally process the bio-diesel. According to the officer interviewed,
We buy Jatropha seed at US$ 150 per tonne, so it is about US$15c per kilogram.
Most of the communal farmers do not want to sell the seeds to us because they say the
money is too little. However at the moment we have stopped purchasing the seeds(Mr
Tsuro 2010, personal interview in Harare 16/08/10).
NOCZIM has been buying the seeds from the farmers since the initiation
of the by-fuel project in 2005.However, up to date it has not yet started processing biodiesel because the biomass is still little. Therefore, they just buy the
Jatropha and give it to other growers who they contract. At present NOCZIM
has stopped expanding the project due to financial constraints and is focusing
on working with projects that they already have.
3.5 The Study area
The study looked at the Jatropha project in Chindenga Village of Mutoko in
the Mashonaland province of Zimbabwe. According to Berkvens, ‘Mutoko has
a semi arid- climate with an average annual precipitation of 650mm. Drought
14
spells occur frequently, agriculture production in Mutoko is mainly rain fed and
the farming system mixed’ (1997:5). In Mutoko, family is the main source of
labour and it is mostly women who are involved in agricultural work. Cousins
et al. from their research in Mutoko district found that, ‘Men function as bread
winners on the basis of some form of non-agricultural employment. Women
may regard themselves as housewives with control over the household’s assets
and responsibility for subsistence tasks and the education of children.’ (1992:
14).
Most men from this communal area migrate to seek employment either in
urban areas or commercial farms. These are some of the ways in which most
households in this community enhance their livelihoods since agriculture is not
highly productive through out the year because of the low rainfall patterns and
also lack of agriculture equipment to use for agricultural purposes. Price and
Campbell highlight that, ‘in case of reasonable rainfall, the most important
source of income is sales of dry land crops, which accounts for about 30% of
average annual income. Other important income sources are non-formal and
casual work, remittances from town and vegetables sales’ (1998:210)
Jatropha has been grown in Mutoko since time immemorial and was never
recognised as an important crop until the 1970s. It was used as a form of
hedge around the household gardens aimed at keeping animals and human beings away. Gandure highlights that, ‘the deliberate exploration of Jatropha as a
potential source of fuel began in the late 1970s and intensified in the 1980s’
(2009:42). One of the major agricultural activities that most households in
Mutoko have always been involved in is the growing of vegetables and sale at
markets in Harare, the main capital city, approximately 250 kilometres from
Mutoko. In fact, Mutoko is largely known for its horticultural produces in
Zimbabwe. The area has got an advantage of some streams along some mountains which supply water for horticulture for the greater part of the year.
In Mutoko district, agriculture is not regarded as a full-time occupation
because it does not offer enough means for earning a living for the households,
hence the involvement of most households in diversified livelihoods. As a result, most households in the area engage in multiple activities in order to earn a
living. Households in Mutoko district grow other food crops such as maize
and sorghum but mainly for subsistence and they mainly grow these crops
during the rainfall season.
With the introduction of Jatropha most households in Chindenga village
who have the plant were involved in the project. However, the lack of access
to land is one critical factor that makes some households not to participate in
Jatropha production because for a household to be part of the out grower
scheme they need to have access to land. Cromwell and van Oosterhout in
their study conducted in Mutoko district noted that, ‘land is allocated to families by traditional authorities (chiefs) and means holding size is 2.5ha, although
this varies widely’ (2000:220). The same study showed that land is owned by
the households although in most cases the men are the heads of households
and it is registered in their names. Also they highlighted that, ‘60% of the people involved actively in farming the land are women, although or just over
20% of households are formally or informally headed by women’ (ibid).
15
Women in this area get more involved in agriculture because most men
migrate to urban areas hence they are the ones who will be left to produce
food for the household. Also as mentioned by Berkvens, ‘Men, traditionally are
responsible for cattle rather than crops, may feel reluctant to become farmers
given that farming is considered a female activity.’(1997:15). This is not to say
that men in this community are not involved in agriculture, but to emphasise
why women end up involved in Jatropha production more than men.
However, not all households in Chindenga village are involved in Jatropha
production. In most cases it is because they do not have access to land and
hence they cannot participate in Jatropha production. NOCZIM targets
households who have access to land as clearly mentioned above. Also households in Chindenga village are involved in numerous ways of making a living.
16
CHAPTER FOUR: Analysis and Discussion of
Findings
4.1 Introduction
This chapter discusses findings regarding the perceptions and perspectives of
beneficiaries and organisations on how empowering Jatropha production is to
those involved in the projects. The discussion will be premised on the study
objective and key research questions. The chapter starts by giving reasons why
this project was thought to have a lasting impact on women yet it never intended to empower women specifically. Drawing on the three dimensions of
empowerment by Kabeer (2001) analysis and discussion is centred on three
main dimensions–Resources, Agency and Achievements and also reference will
be made to key literatures discussed in chapter 2. The paper will go on to look
at some issues of power relations that existed in the community – taking into
account that communities are not homogeneous entities with people who have
the same interests. Also a reflection on the political interests that were at play
and some of the economic challenges that the country was undergoing are also
analysed. The concluding part of the chapter goes on to give the researcher’s
perspective on the meaning of projects such as this. It also discusses the usefulness and sustainability of such projects.
4.2 Why the Jatropha project was thought to have a lasting
impact on women.
In most communal areas in Zimbabwe the family is the main source of labour
and it is “mostly” women who provide labour in as far as agriculture is concerned. According to Bulow and Sorensen ‘family labour particularly that of
wives is crucial to the majority of tea farmers’ (1993:42) this was found out in
their study on contract farming in Zimbabwe, also as reinstated by Pankhurst
‘most of the work has to be done in hot weather and through the ‘hungriest’
time of the year, and most labour is provided by women’ (1991:614). This is
also the same for Jatropha production - women are more involved in the projects than men. Tigere et al. in their study on the potential of Jatropha Curcas
in improving smallholder farmer’s livelihood in Zimbabwe found out that it is
women who are mostly being empowered by the projects because they are the
ones who participate more, ‘this has empowered the female smallholder farmers who can now generate extra household income from the sales of seed and
Jatropha seedcake’ (2006:7).
Most men in Zimbabwe are not interested in Jatropha production because
it offers low returns and it takes long to get the returns therefore they prefer to
engage in other activities to sustain their livelihoods. Gandure mentions three
main reasons why women are the ones, who are mainly involved in these projects,
17
First, because of their role in the households which includes cooking, cleaning,
and providing care and support, the benefits derived from by-products of
Jatropha – growing (including paraffin, soap and glycerine)make the activity very
attractive to women. Second, because benefits from Jatropha accrue over a period of time, like many other projects, women have the necessary high level of patience and reliability. Third, the generally low levels of return realized from these
by-products make them less attractive. (2009:45)
It is against these reasons that the project was assumed to have a lasting
impact on women. Women’s agency to be involved in the project would probably be high because it is a project that is attractive to them. Also by men not
being interested in the project it would look like second best to women but at
the same time give women the opportunity to be empowered without them
having to face too much competition from men.
In many societies culturally defined roles have played a significant role in
preventing women from enjoying benefits that the industrial world offers even
though women play a significant role in the utilization of natural resources. In
most traditional societies women are portrayed as the ones who do all the
household work whilst men are responsible for work outside the home and are
seen as owners of all resources and the ones who can derive all the economic
benefits from the available resources. According to Clancy, ‘Poverty has a distinct gender dimension in the sense that poverty is experienced differently by
women and men and their responses are different, women and men have different degrees of access and control over land and natural resources, they also
have different roles, responsibilities, rights and obligations which define the
relationship between women and men in a household’ (2008:422). The burden of poverty is still borne by women therefore it is very critical and important to empower women and also to include them in production processes
because in most cases women are often left out and this hampers their ability
to move forward in all sectors.
4.3 Resources
In the study area women often do not own any assets it is usually the men who
are the owners of virtually all assets. The research carried out for this paper
revealed that all households in the community have got access to land which is
half a hectare. Also all the households do not have legal rights, the land is under communal ownership. This is what Mtisi and Makore (2010) argue that it
can be a challenge for farmers to join the project. Farmers in the community
are actually not contracted because they do not have the hectares of land that
are required. This is highlighted in the technical report by NOCZIM, that all
households with less than 5 hectares do not get the tillaging support.
(NOCZIM 2010:2).
On registration of the land most households mentioned that it is the husband’s name that is registered. Even for the female headed households (widows) that were interviewed they mentioned that they are still using land in their
late husband’s names. In Zimbabwe land ownership tends to favour men than
women although this is slowly changing. The widows interviewed highlighted
18
that it is difficult to change the name even after the husband has died. One
widow mentioned that,
It is very difficult to change names, I can never put that land in my name if I do that I
risk loosing the land. It is better to continue using my late husband’s name (Rudo, personal interview in Chindenga Village, 21/07/10)
This lack of proper documentation makes women to be excluded in development projects because when projects come in the area that have the potential to benefit women, they may at the end of day fail to benefit because
they will not be having access to the required resources. Kabeer highlights that,
‘resources form the condition under which one can make choices’ (2001:19)
Hence by lacking access to resources one is disempowered because they cannot
make choices.
Although it was revealed that land is registered in the names of the men. It
also came out clearly that 56% of the women interviewed made decisions
about the household land. In Mutoko agriculture is seen as work for women.
It was highlighted that it is mainly women who are involved in agriculture projects hence they have more control over what to plant at household level. This
is also highlighted by Berkvens ‘men function as bread winners on the basis of
some form of non-agricultural employment. Women may regard themselves as
housewives with control over the household’s assets and responsibility for subsistence tasks and the education of children. (1997: 14).
In addition, on the terms of incorporation it was revealed that women in
this community were free to participate in Jatropha projects. It was also revealed by most of the women that Jatropha production is regarded as a project
for women and men were not even interested in the project. This is also mentioned by Gandure when she says, ‘the programme is largely driven by women
small-holder farmers, but their roles have not been carefully studied nor documented’ (2009:45). Longwe (1991) mentions participation as one of the highest levels of empowerment as far as empowerment is concerned. Hence by the
women being able to freely participate in these projects it increases their power
to make decisions. Also, Kabeer (2001) mentions that access - to be able to
freely participate in projects increases choices for women which will then lead
to empowerment.
In addition, the interviewed women also mentioned that since the inception of Jatropha production they had intensified their production, by planting
more hedges even around their houses. Whilst a few women mentioned that
they had just established their Jatropha hedges after joining the Jatropha production. They highlighted that Jatropha is not a new intervention to them it
only became very important recently for biodiesel production. This confirmed
what is in most literature on Jatropha in Zimbabwe by (Tigere et al. 2006;
Gandure 2009) that Jatropha has been grown in Mutoko since time immemorial. Organisations such as Plan International, NOCZIM and Finealt were the
ones that were mentioned to be supporting the communities. Plan International mainly supported the beneficiaries in the small projects by training them
how by-products can be made from Jatropha. Trainings constitute what Kabeer (2001) refers to as human resources.
19
4.4 Sense of Agency
Information gathered from the field visit revealed that, sense of agency
amongst the women in Chindenga village was very active. Most of the women
in the community showed that they were attracted by the by-products especially ‘soap’ to join the Jatropha project and they joined the project at their own
will. One woman mentioned that,
Being involved in projects like this makes me a proud woman knowing that I am the
one who made the soap, I do not have to go to the shops to look for soap’.( Tendesai,
personal interview in Chindenga Village, 21/07/10)
According to (Kabeer, 2001:21) agency is, ‘ability to define one’s goal and
act upon them’. From the interviews the women were motivated to engage in
the project because they knew what they were to benefit from it.
4.4.1 Decision making on how proceeds from Jatropha are used
On the issue of decision making most of the women highlighted that their capacity to make decisions had really been improved through the Jatropha project. Most of the women highlighted that because of the income they got from
the project, they were also able to contribute to household income and this has
made their husbands to recognise them as people with potential. One woman
said:
When I got into the Jatropha project my husband used to look down upon me but I continued, with time when I managed to buy my kitchen utensils as well as contributed to
the school fees of our children then he started respecting me. He also began to encourage
me to attend any workshops that had anything to do with Jatropha. He started accepting my contributions, so I can say it has really improved, but the challenge now is that I
have stopped making soap due to financial constraints (Ruvimbo, personal interview in
Chindenga Village, 21/07/10)
This is what Kabeer (2001:21) refers to by agency “power within” the motivation that one brings into certain actions. In most literature on gender women are portrayed as having passive agency but on this project it was observed
that women actually had very active agency to participate in the project, however it is the project that did not have much to offer towards women’s empowerment. Despite challenges faced by the women they still strived to achieve
their goals.
Some of the women could not really tell whether their decision making
capacity had improved. One woman said:
My husband seems to be very jealous of my achievements, every time he always accuses
me of not listening to him because I now have my own money. This has somehow drawn
me back, every time I get something I forward it all to him and he is the one who actually decides what to do. (Rumbidzai, personal interview in Chindenga Village,
21/07/2010)
As mentioned earlier women in this community are always confined to
their homes. Culturally women are expected to spend the day at home doing
the household chores, cooking and also going to the fields. When the husband
comes home food should be ready therefore it becomes difficult for other men
20
to accept that their wives are actually doing well and are in a position to work
and bring some income. This is what was argued by Parpart et al. that,
Groups become empowered through collective action, but that action is enabled
or constrained by the structures of power that they encounter. We believe much
closer attention must be paid to the broad political and economic structures, cultural assumptions and discourses, notions of human rights, laws and practices in
which women and men seek to survive and even flourish in marginalised communities around the world (2002:4).
Some of the socially defined roles between men and women can really become a barrier to women’s empowerment as mentioned by some of the women interviewed.
Figure 1: Who decides on how proceeds from Jatropha can be used?
Source: Author’s interview with the beneficiaries: 2010
As depicted in the chart above 80 percent of the women acknowledged
that they are the ones who decided on how proceeds from Jatropha were used.
One woman said:
At first it was difficult to tell my husband how much I was getting because I was afraid
that he would be jealous and stop me from making my own money. However, I later noticed that he now respects me a lot because I am able to contribute to household income.
I am the one who actually decides what I want to do with the money but I do share my
plan with him before I do it, because he is the head of the household. (Chipo, personal
Interview in Chindenga Village, 26/07/10)
The other 15% of the women interviewed mentioned they did not make
any decisions as far as Jatropha proceeds were concerned, and lastly the other
5% mentioned that they made joint decisions with their husbands. Some of the
women actually fear to join some local development initiatives that can make
them better beings because they feel that they are supposed to be always below
men in everything. This is what was brought out by Malhotra citing Kabeer,
21
‘when women internalize their subordinated status and view themselves as persons of lesser value, their sense of their own rights and entitlements is diminished’ in (Malhotra et al. 2002:10). This may be slowly changing as depicted by
majority of the responses from the women but it was observed that some of
the women are still being drawn back by the social structures that make them
lesser beings. Agarwal argues that,
Norms could impinge on bargaining in at least four ways: they set limits on what
can be bargained about, they affect how the process of bargaining is conducted –
covertly or overtly, aggressively or quietly, they constitute a factor to be bargained over, that is, social norms can be endogenous in that they can themselves
be subject to negotiation and change. (1997:5)
4.4.2 Who makes decisions on family issues
Table 1: who makes decisions on family issues in the households?
Number
Percentage
Men
22
69
Women
4
12
Joint
6
19
Total
32
100
Source: Author’s interview with the beneficiaries: 2010
As depicted in the table above 69% of the interviewed women indicated
that men are the main decision makers in the family whilst 19% reported that
decisions are jointly made and 12% made by women. Women are the ones who
take care of agriculture production whilst the men are away, yet they cannot
make decisions concerning family issues. They cannot do anything to participate in decision-making. However, one woman said that,
When it comes to issues that have to do with decision making it is formally men who
make the decisions because they are the ones who speak out, but in fact it is us women
who make most of the decisions through manipulating our husbands. We try by all
means to convince them to do what we want and in most cases we win. We just do not
speak out because that way we avoid confrontation and also in our culture men are supposed to be respected therefore we try to give them the respect that is due to them
(Ndatenda, personal interview in Chindenga Village,26/07/10)
Almost all the respondents who reported that women were the decision
makers in their families were female headed; either widowed or divorced. Even
so, these women reported that they still had to consult husband’s families especially on issues regarding children. A 42 year old widow highlighted that,
I am a widow and I make all the decisions at household level, but it can really be a
challenge when it comes to making decisions that have to do with the children. I had serious problems with my late husband’s family when my daughter was about to get married. Some of the things we have to consult (Tsitsi, personal interview in Chindenga
Village, 26/07/10)
22
Culture and the way of socialisation play an important role in the subjugation of women. Most of the interviewed women confirmed that they still regard themselves as being inferior and this actually has been a bottleneck in
their empowerment. This was also noted by Kabeer citing Sen and Batliwala,
‘Men do not always take kindly the interventions that destabilize the balance of
power within the household and that empowerment processes may sometimes
lead to an initial increase in abuse because they challenge the status quo of
gender power’ (Kabeer 1999:22-23).
Women making joint decision with their husbands concurred that they respect their husbands and do everything to make them feel that they are the
head of households. Wanjiku and Wanjira in their study on micro credit found
that the programs rarely empower women. They argued that even if their income is increased women always remain marginalised both in the home as well
as in the markets. They highlight that, ‘In the market, the power of women micro entrepreneurs relative to men is negligible. In the home, despite their increased importance as providers, women are still subordinated to their husbands’ (2002:183).
4.5 Achievements
On achievements the other dimension of empowerment which ideally leads to
decision making power, the focus was on looking at the tangible things that
have changed in the lives of the women involved in the projects. Achievements
include both access to resources and agency Kabeer (2001). Specifically, it concerns investigating what exactly women can say they have got or have changed
as a result of the project.
80% of the women interviewed highlighted that their material well being
had improved as a result of their participation in the project. Most of the
women mentioned that after getting involved in the projects they were able to
engage in a lot of activities that they were not able to do previously. However,
it was noted that the expectations of the women about the project were different from the national objective. For the women the focus was mainly on
household use and income generation. Although in the national draft policy it
is mentioned that this project was also to improve the livelihoods of the local
people, the main focus was to produce bio-diesel, a concept that most women
did not really understand. This also comes out clearly in the paper by Hunsberger (2010) on the politics of Jatropha in Kenya that the objectives of the
government, NGOs and farmers on the ground were very different. These different interests contribute greatly to whether the project empowered women or
disempowered communities.
A large percentage of the women interviewed mentioned that with the
proceeds from Jatropha they managed to buy their kitchen utensils – this was
something that every woman interviewed seemed to be proud of. Some managed to pay for school fees for their children, and also bought food, clothing
and blankets for the household. According to Kabeer (2001) this constitutes
the other dimension of empowerment which is referred to as achievements.
23
The women were capacitated to produce by-products from Jatropha such
as soap, candles and because of their active agency they were able to work on
the project to achieve their goals. All the women were proud of all these
achievements -signifying a high degree of satisfaction in having acquired essential household items such as kitchen utensils. Some women actually mentioned
the following:
I am very proud because I managed to buy my kitchen utensils and blankets, things
that I have always wanted to buy in my house (Nyasha, personal interview in Chindenga Village, 26/07/10)
And,
I am very proud because I managed to buy my kitchen utensils, when people come to visit me I now have better utensils to use and this is every woman’s dream. But the problem is I have stopped making soap because I no longer have money to buy the inputs
(Tendai, personal interview in Chindenga Village, 30/07/10)
Some also mentioned that they managed to raise money to send their children to school. One woman highlighted the following:
One thing that I was really happy about was the fact that I managed to send my children to school. My children had been sent out of school because my husband could no
longer pay their fees. I also managed to buy them some of the basic items that are required at school such as writing books and pencil, something that I had always longed to
do but could not do because of financial constraints. Now my greatest fear is whether I
am going to continue because the cost of the inputs is now too high. (Masimba, personal
interview in Chindenga Village, 30/07/10)
Some of the interviewed women highlighted that they generated some additional income from selling the by- products, they no longer had to rely on
their husband’s income to go to the grinding mill and to buy some household
groceries and clothing. The women emphasised that this contributed to reduced domestic violence at home,
Before engaging in the project we had no source of income most of the time my husband
would get home whilst there is no food to eat at all. All we would do was to wait for
him to come and give us money to buy the food and many times this would cause us to
fight. (Ngoni, personal interview in Chindenga Village, 31/07/10)
The same was also found out in a study by Agarwal, ‘they feared that if
land titles went only to husbands, wives would be rendered relatively even
more powerless, and vulnerable to domestic violence. Their fears proved correct. Where only men got titles there was an increase in drunkenness, wife –
beating and threats, where women received titles they could now assert’
(1996:277). The quote is talking about access to land and in this case it is access
to income that made changes to these women’s lives, this shows that if women
have access to some resources or income it can actually improve their bargaining power at the household level. In Chindenga village access to income improved the way of life for most households as incidences of domestic violence
were actually lessened. A study by Tigere et al. on Jatropha production and
women empowerment revealed that, ‘this has empowered female smallholder
farmers who can now generate extra household income from sales of the seed
and Jatropha seed cake. This has to some extent addressed gender equity in
terms of income generation.’(2006:7).
24
Further, the women interviewed mentioned that the soap they made from
Jatropha had really improved their way of lives in terms of work - burden. One
woman mentioned that,
Before we could make soap from Jatropha oil we would go to near by farms to do part
time jobs and in turn get a few dollars which would then enable us to buy pieces of soap.
Now after the involvement in the project we can make our own soap, we no longer have
to do part time jobs a lot and our children are now always looking smart and healthy
(Tariro, personal interview in Chindenga Village,31/07/10)
They highlighted that, even if they still had to do survivalist jobs at nearby
farms, the need was less. They also mentioned that own soap production enhanced the family’s hygiene hence reducing the likelihood of hygiene related
infections. This improved the women’s ability to make strategic life choices,
that choice which they previously lacked before they now had because of the
involvement in the project. According to Kabeer (2001) if one is able to do
what they could not do before, in some sense they are empowered. This bit of
choice was clearly observable when women mentioned that because of the project they no longer had to go and do survivalist jobs every time. They could
now choose whether to go or not depending on their needs at that particular
time. This was also confirmed by women who were not involved in Jatropha
production, they highlighted that although most of them were not interested in
the project they could actually see some changes in women who were involved
in Jatropha project. One woman interviewed reported that,
The project helped in increasing income for some of the women in this community, some
of them who used to work hard in the commercial farms have since reduced their frequency there. Although not so much observable changes could be noted on all the women
because some never sold the soap it was good because they had soap to use at the household. They did not have to go and buy soap’ (Farai, personal interview in Chindenga
Village, 2/08/10)
Project non participants noticed slight changes in the livelihoods of project participants. They reaffirmed that some women managed to buy some
kitchen utensils, get some extra income whilst a few who were doing well actually managed to send their children to school. However, they stressed that
these women could have been better if they were linked to markets because
most of them were really dedicated to the project but the support that they get
from the project is too limited. One of the women (non-project participant)
explained:
Yes, they have benefited but as far as I think what they are benefiting is too little, the
women are hard working but in most cases after looking for their own inputs and making the soap or candles they are not linked to markets. Most of them end up using the
products at their homes or end up selling them cheaply in the community. It was better if
they are firstly provided with inputs and then also linked to markets. Technical expertise alone was not enough (Maidei, personal interview in Chindenga Village,
3/08/10)
The same was also was brought out by Hunsberger in a study on Jatropha
in Kenya, it was argued that, ‘Jatropha activities currently focus on distributing
seeds and seedlings to farmers and providing training on how to manage the
crop very little processing and virtually no marketing and use of Jatropha are
25
taking place’(2010:949). This can under capacitate women and is disempowering because these projects are not complete in themselves and they leave women in a vulnerable position instead of actually improving their material wellbeing.
From the achievements discussed above it is clear that most of the
achievements mentioned have been noted earlier in the resources and agency
sections. This is what is mentioned by Kabeer, ‘it is similarly difficult to judge
the validity of an achievement measure unless we have evidence, or can make a
reasonable guess, as to whose agency was involved and extent to which the
achievement in question transformed prevailing inequalities in resources and
agency’ (2001:40). It is not possible to take an indicator as empowerment without looking at the other dimensions.
4.5.1 Non Production income empowerment
From the foregoing discussion, it is evident that in Chindenga village, women
were making some income especially through the processing of Jatropha into
by-products such as soap and candles. Women were free to participate in the
Jatropha project. In figure 1 it is clear that 80% of the women mentioned that
they had control over Jatropha proceeds. From the field work conducted in
Chindenga village, when asked what happens to the income from the sales of
the by-products, most of the women mentioned that they use it mostly for
household purposes. One woman mentioned that,
I do not have to wait for my husband to give me money to buy food or to go to the grinding mill anymore, I just use that money’ (Sekesai, personal interview in Chindenga Village, 5/08/10).
Other women who were doing exceptionally well mentioned that they
could even send their children to school.
From this it is clear that the income was used for household purposes, it
was not necessarily for personal use by women themselves. Parpart et al. argue
that, ‘Microcredit enables women to earn an increase in their income, thereby
increasing their bargaining power within the households. However, this income
rarely allows them to meet their social and economic responsibilities, let alone
facilitate a move to more productive activities’ (2002:196). The income benefits
the household as a whole not only the women. Gedzi argues that, ‘this breadwinner role may make some women exhaust the little income they have. This
indirectly enables their husbands to save towards acquisition of property.’
(2009:124).
However, in this case the women mentioned that this empowered them as
it gave them voice and also bargaining power to challenge the existing power
relation at the household level. As quoted earlier one woman mentioned that
because she now had access to some income, she no longer had to wait for her
husband to bring food, hence she was no longer prone to verbal and physical
abuse, as she no longer had to ask for money from her husband. Before joining
the project, every time she would ask for money it would turn into physical
abuse. Agarwal discussing on women and land rights mentions that, ‘land
26
rights can also improve the treatment a woman receives from other family
members by strengthening their bargaining power’ (1996:276). In this case the
income gave the women bargaining power to challenge existing intra household relations that made them to have subordinate positions, hence empowering the women psychologically.
4.6 What went wrong?
Currently in Zimbabwe the Jatropha project has been put on hold, NOCZIM
has withdrawn its resources from the project. The main reason for NOCZIM
stopping the project was because of lack funds. The national biodiesel project
was being funded by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) the bank no longer had the funds for the project. Also, one local newspaper revealed that
NOCZIM was working under an estimated US $270 million debt and this was
now threatening the operation of the organisation, ‘NOCZIM is also trying to
sell some of its assets including buildings, tractors and vehicles in a bid to settle
the enormous debt, this has seen the company suspending cash straining projects such as Jatropha planting’ (Mukarati, 2010). 2
Apparently, Plan International has also put on hold their project because
they do not want to go against the National objective which is to produce
Jatropha for Bio-diesel production. However, when NOCZIM was contacted
on this issue it reported that,
By-products do not take much of the Jatropha seed therefore there is no way the production of Jatropha will affect the national plan’ (Mr Tsuro, personal interview in Harare,
16/08/10).
One major issue that could have led the project to come to a sudden end
was the policy issue. As mentioned earlier in chapter 3 due to the sanctions
that were imposed on Zimbabwe the country could no longer have access to
credit as well as fuel imports. According to ZELA (2010) that is when the government decided to embark on biofuel production so as to be fuel reliant. In as
much as this was good idea it was done without a comprehensive and proper
national policy in place. Gandure highlights that, ‘it appears the primary goal is
to achieve economic and national supply target rather than reducing inequalities’ (2009:44). The background of this project shows that there were political
interests at play which needed to be satisfied without considering the issue of
empowering people that were fully engaged in the projects. This is inline with
(Staudt, 2002:97)’s argument that, ‘Large, macro level structures have set the
stage that disempower people, and yet staff from some of those structures revisit the stage with empowerment language’. In this case the priority of the
GoZ was biodiesel, but the local people were encouraged to engage in the projects because it would help boost their livelihoods. The project was initiated
without adequate research because from what was being done the linkages
were not in place. For example, the GoZ is still in the process of building the
plant in Mutoko where Jatropha will be processed. Even if enough Jatropha
2
Quote from a local Newspaper article. The Financial Gazette, 13 May 2010.
27
seed is to be there today it would still not be able to be processed because the
country does not have a plant. The project was jump-started without proper
planning.
4.6.1 Conflicts within the community
Societies are not homogeneous entities, that is, one cannot take a community
and treat the people as though they all are equal and think the same. Looking at
a poor and remote rural community like Chindenga one is tempted to see all
women who live there as being very poor and at the same level. However, the
field study reviewed that the women in the locality have different interests and
aspirations. Jatropha projects in the Chindenga ward were received by the
people in the community differently. There were elements of conflicts that existed among the women working on the projects.
One thing that came out clearly as the women were being interviewed was
the aspect of the resources that were used in the project. As mentioned earlier
that Plan International distributed nine machines in the community to press oil
from the Jatropha seed. These machines were not enough considering that they
were meant to benefit the whole village. The machines were distributed at different central points in the community so that those involved in the projects
would freely have access to the machine that was closest to them. Based on the
feedback received from women interviewed in this study not everyone was able
to access the machines. Only those holding powerful in the community would
mostly use the machines. This was a challenge in the project for most of the
women as they felt that there had to be another way of distributing the machines which would help them to easily access them. One of the women was
quoted saying that:
We do have machines that we can use but most of the time we actually grind the seeds
manually because we can not access the machines. At the end we produce low quality
soap because the oil will not be purified properly. Personally I have gone to Chindenga
primary school almost 5 times, where the nearest machine is, to book for a day to use
the machine but every time, I was always told the machine is fully booked for the next
four weeks or more. The machine will just be circulating among a very few women in
this area. I was not able question them because the women who always had the machine
are the headman’s wife, leader of the ZANU – PF(ruling part in Zimbabwe) women’s
league in the area and other influential women in the community(Ruramisai, personal
interview in Chindenga Village,5/08/10)
Although most feminist’s discussions focus on women’s empowerment as
the emancipation from the patriarchal system, giving women power over resources. This study actually revealed that conflicts among women themselves
hamper their own progress. In other words, there were women who were
powerful in the community and used their positions to have access to resources at the expense of other women. Only the influential and powerful
women were the ones that appeared to have derived much of the benefits of
the Jatropha projects. They are the ones who reported to sending their children
to school with the money they got from the soap and candle making project.
This actually confirms Rai’s argument that most projects that seek to empower
28
women present women without differentiation, ‘the issue of class is at the heart
of the process of engendering development’ (2002:135). In the end it was the
powerful women who benefited more from this project, yet it could have actually empowered all the women involved. In the same line (Kabeer 200:21)
talks of ‘negative agency’ in the sense of ‘power over’ where some actors are
able to overpower others because of different power relations. In this case
women disempowered each other because they lacked access to the resources
which could have potentially helped them to boost their production. In most
cases it actually discouraged the weaker women in the community.
Also, another interesting aspect that came out of the interviews was about
the training workshops to empower project beneficiaries with new skills and
knowledge. Most of the women interviewed raised concerns about how the
women were chosen to go for the trainers workshops. Usually the workshops
were done out of the communities. Again the women mentioned that it was
the influential women who were taken for the trainings and would then come
to train other women. The major problem the women raised was that these
powerful women were too busy to train other women in the community as per
expectation. A few were able to do it and it took long to train the rest of the
women in the community. At the end women ended up training each other
informally and a lot of important aspects were ignored and left out. Some of
the women were not be able to produce quality soap and candles because they
would have missed the proper trainings on the quantities required.
Plan International when interviewed on the issue of these concerns that
these women had about the project, showed that there was awareness that
there were conflicts. The officer acknowledged that such conflicts are obviously unavoidable in communities, adding that they could not do much about the
issue. The officer was quoted as saying that,
Problems like this are obvious in communities where people live. Some of the women
who raise such concerns are the ones who are lazy and are not very serious about the
project. Dependency syndrome is now affecting these communities, they want all things to
be done for them they actually do not want to make efforts to go and use the machines.
We as Plan International we cannot buy some more machines because of financial constraints, the women actually have to make efforts to be able to use the machines. (Mr
Gudo, personal interview in Mutoko, 16/07/10)
This led to the project having different impacts, with some women doing
well whilst others in the same project and in the same community struggling.
This is in line with what was argued by Staudt (2002) that organisations that
bring these projects play a very vital role in making sure that the beneficiaries
they seek to empower are empowered. In most cases these organisations have
their own interests to address which at the end of the day do not address the
objective.
4.6.2 Distribution and Marketing
As argued earlier in the paper women were more interested in the by – products of Jatropha. From the interviews it was reviewed that women were actually producing soap and candles and some were selling these products. According to the women they could sell for US$ 50c a bar of soap and US$1 per 6
29
candles. This actually helped them to boost their income. However, most of
the women mentioned that they did not have access to markets to sell their
products. Plan International did not link them to markets - they had to find
markets to sell their soap on their own. This was also confirmed by the officer
from Plan International.
As a result of the economic crisis commodities would just be sold anyhow,
if one had goods to sell they could just liaise with the owners of shops in the
community and sell their goods. In turn they would pay the shopkeeper the
amount they would have agreed. This was also happening in Chindenga village,
the women would have to seek the consent of the business people in the area
to be able to sell their products. However, the shops in Chindenga are a few. It
was the soap of good quality that could actually be sold in the shops. From the
interviews conducted one woman mentioned that,
I never got the opportunity to put my products in the shops because the soap I used to
make was not of high quality. I never got the access to use the machines to extract oil
from the seeds so I would just grind the seeds manually and this would leave some grains
and particles in the oil which would then lead to poor quality soap which was very dark
and rough. It is the women who had access to the machines who benefited more, because
in most cases their soap and candles would be of high quality. Therefore they would easily be accepted by the shop owners to sell their products’ (Rudo, personal interview in
Chindenga Village, 21/07/10).
The women who were able to sell their products at the shops were better
off because their soap was sold fast and at very good price because the growth
point is the heart of the village. Many people go there and business is very fast
and good in that place. In most cases it was the influential women who were
able to sell their soap in the shops. (Kabeer, 2001:20) highlights, ‘the way resources are distributed and the relationships that exist are very important as far
as empowerment is concerned’. In this case the powerful women found it easier to sell their products in the shops whilst the rest of the women could not
because of the power as well as the type of relationships that exists.
Most women ended up selling their products in the village because they
did not have access to markets. This was problematic because almost everyone
in the community was making the same products. Therefore, they ended up
not having anywhere to sell the soap because all the possible markets were
flooded with the same products. This eventually contributed to most women
stopping the production of the by-products for sale. Most of the women ended
up producing soap for use at the household level.
Before the introduction of the multicurrency payment system in Zimbabwe, the country was in a long period hyperinflationary environment and
shortages of basic commodities. This was a trying time for businesses including
small scale Jatropha by-products processors. The women could no longer realise profits from the enterprise. This led the women to stop concentrating on
selling the by-products.
4.6.3 Macro – Politics
From a political perspective, the rush into biofuels was mainly caused by the
need to overcome serious fuel shortages that had hit the country and also the
30
continuous rise of the prices of fossil fuels around 2008. According to ZELA,
‘the launching of the biofuels projects was a political response by the government of Zimbabwe to the fuel crisis. The background to this is due to human
rights abuses and bad political governance and suffering of people many Western countries like the United States, Britain and Australia had imposed travel
sanctions on the political elite in Zimbabwe’ (2010:8). According to (NOCZIM
2010:8; ZELA 2010:8) It should also be noted at this point that this was not
the first time Zimbabwe had engaged in biofuel production. In the 1970s during the then Rhodesian government the same thing happened when the government was hit by sanctions and were not able to import fuel. The Rhodesian
government responded by establishing sugarcane plantations for ethanol production. This arrangement did work but later the plantations failed to be
properly maintained by the independent government. The interests of the poor
groups such as women were never taken into consideration from the start of
this Jatropha project, yet it is women who are mostly involved in the projects.
The main driver was to satisfy the political interests and the political elite who
wanted the country to be fuel reliant.
Also during this time the economy of the country was continually constrained, with inflation rates rising accompanied by serious foreign currency
shortages. In June 2009 the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) introduced a
new payment system under the multicurrency system. This was done so as to
cab the hyperinflation environment that had hit the country for almost a decade (RBZ, 2009:1). This move to multicurrency led to currencies like the US
dollar among other currencies becoming the currencies being used in Zimbabwe today. It caused challenges in different sectors as the securing of the foreign currency was a hard task. According to NOCZIM, ‘the dollarization of the
economy has resulted in foreign currency becoming the medium of exchange
in Zimbabwe. The country relies on fuel imports which require foreign currency. This posed viability problems for oil companies in the past as securing foreign currency for fuel importation proved very difficult’ (2010:22). This change
of currency also affected the Jatropha projects, NOCZIM also started to lack
funds to pursue the project, which led the project to be suspended. Also the
women on the ground faced some challenges in purchasing the inputs since
they also did not have the foreign currency.
4.7 What does it mean for such projects: are such projects useful even if they bring the focus on women?
The most promising and potential uses that Jatropha production have got are
in rural agro industrial development such as soap making and candle making.
As mentioned by Tigere et al. in their research on Jatropha production in
Zimbabwe it was noted that , ‘the oil requires little or no chemical processing,
and the oil will be used in making soap, candles and lubricants.’ (2006:6). Rural
households especially women have the potential to produce the by-products
and in turn sell and increase their income. If there are properly established
markets and in the initial stages the households are able to get support in acquiring the inputs that are required these households can actually go to great
31
heights in having more income as well as getting more empowered since they
will be able to derive more benefits from such a projects.
The seeds can also be sold to increase income at the household level, according to Tigere et al. (2006) in Zimbabwe Jatropha is harvested from May to
August. This is a great advantage since agriculture labour requirements will be
off-peak at this time of the year, households can be involved in the harvesting
of the crop without much interference with other crops which they may value
more than Jatropha. This in fact enables households to earn more extra cash
with resources that they locally produce. Although selling the seeds without
adding value to them offers less returns it is at least a way of increasing income
at the household level and can make households in such communities to be
able to stand on their on.
Also, Jatropha production like any other biomass production has the potential to create employment for rural workers. As mentioned by White and
Dasgupta that, ‘Agro-fuel projects can promise employment and incomes for
tens of millions of rural workers, whether as smallholder farmers producing on
contract, wage workers on plantation, or workers in the upstream and downstream agro-industries’ (2010:2). This was going to be an important aspect in
rural development. Most rural people migrate to urban areas to search for employment although this have positive aspects there are also very negative aspects on migration. Therefore, projects like this can potentially attract rural
people to stay in their communities working there and develop their own
communities.
Aside of revitalising stagnating rural economies, Jatropha production
could also help in ensuring the provision of green energy which would replace
the fossil fuels and help in fighting global warming. This is a highly debatable
issue as far as biofuels are concerned but as mentioned by (Mol, 2007: 299300), ‘the continuing concern about the role of fossil fuels in climate change
via the release of greenhouse gasses during exploitation, transport and especially, their use has created attention into all kinds of renewable energy alternatives’ the production of Jatropha can also potentially lead to a sustainable
means of fuel which will help in curbing climate change a global problem that
has since began affecting most rural areas in many developing countries.
4.8 Sustainability of such a project
As White and Dasgupta argued in their paper that, ‘we should not fall into the
fallacy of blaming a crop (or the uses to which the crop is put) it all depends on
the manner in which these crops are grown, under which forms of ownership
and labour regimes and in what kind of commodity chains’ (2010:18). This paper argues that projects like this do have the potential to empower women in
rural communities. They can be sustainable particularly with respect to byproducts. It all depends on whether the policies that have been put in place are
pro –poor and also on how the projects are run from the beginning. As a
country Zimbabwe could have learnt from other leading countries in biofuel
production such as Brazil, as highlighted by Clancy, ‘lessons from the early fuel
32
ethanol programme in Brazil would indicate that there is need for such policies’ (2009:423) As the women interviewed clearly said, the project increased
their source of income, this was going to be better if the project was properly
planned from the start. In this case the agency for the women involved in the
project was very active and they could have been taken to greater heights.
4.9 Conclusion
The Jatropha project has empowered the women in the Chindenga village in
different ways. Through the project women managed to have access to trainings as well as gain income from the sell of by-products. It was noted that most
of the income the women made was mainly used for the household. It was not
necessarily for personal use by the women. Most importantly because of their
achievements the women’s bargaining power was really improved because
they now had access to income which gave them a voice as to challenge some
of the abuses they used to get from their husbands. However, due to the different power relations in the community there were some women who were
empowered and some women who disempowered other women. It was revealed that the most powerful women are those who had more access to machines, trainings and also to markets at the expense of the rest of the women
involved in the project. Most of the women ended up stopping by-products for
sale because they did not have access to markets. Plan International and
NOCZIM did not link the women to the markets. From the findings it was
also revealed that there was no substantial bio-fuel policy in Zimbabwe, this
led to the projects to be implemented without proper planning. However it
was argued in the paper that project such as this are sustainable especially looking at the by-products aspect of it, it depends on the policies that are in place
and also whether issues of different power relations are properly addressed
from the beginning of the project.
33
CHAPTER FIVE: Conclusions
The aim of this concluding chapter is to recap on the striking issues that have
come up throughout this paper. The objective of the paper was to find out if
Jatropha production has empowered women in Mutoko district’s Chindenga
Village in Zimbabwe. Jatropha production was started with the intention to
have a home grown fuel substitution solution.
Study findings point out that at the national level, there were underlying
political motives at play which sought to satisfy personal needs for a country
that was hit by sanctions. The political elite sought to be fuel reliant through
the Jatropha project without taking into consideration the needs of the rural
people especially women who would be involved in the project. The project
was implemented without a proper policy in place and this led to inconsistency
in how the projects were being run. Also, the project was not well informed
from the beginning, there was not a lot of research done about the production
of biofuels. At the same time the country was going through a rough economic
crisis which contributed to the stop of the project.
The paper used Kabeer (2001)’s three dimensions of empowerment which
are ‘Resources, Agency and Achievements’ to analyse the findings. It also engaged with different conceptualisations of empowerment. It was found out
that even in the absence of clear implementation plans some women drew notable benefits from the projects which empowered them. From the findings it
emerged that women had access to machines provided by Plan International,
however, it was clear that the women did not own the machines. They could
just use them but in most cases they did not get the chance because of the
powerful women involved in the project. This was not sustainable because
women ended up grinding the seeds manually - they did not have sense of
ownership as far as the machines were concerned. They also received trainings
on how to maintain the Jatropha plants and on how to make by-products from
NOCZIM and Plan International respectively. It was also clear from the interviews that women’s sense of agency was active. The women were willing to
take up the project because they knew they would benefit from it. Most of the
women managed to buy their kitchen utensils, food whilst others who were
doing well were able to send their children to school. The income they got
from the sale of the by –products increased the bargaining power for the
women at the household level.
However, a further analysis showed that women in this community were
impacted differently by the project. Power struggles within the community led
to the disempowerment of other women. In analysing how the project empowered women, this raised questions whether there is really something like
“empowerment” in development projects. Also can all projects which seek to
empower a certain group of people, empower the whole group. Case in point,
there are some who were empowered more than others. Therefore, this then
leaves a lot of questions about what “empowerment” is all about.
It was also found out that most of the women had no access to markets to
sell their by-products this led to most of the women stopping making products
34
for sell. It was also noted that the project did not do much to challenge some
of the social and cultural roles between men and women in the community
which make women to always have subordinate positions. Most of the women
mentioned that even though they are the ones responsible and who decide on
how the income from the by-products is to be used. They still had to consult
their husbands because they are the household heads.
Most International Organisations as well as the World Bank now emphasise on sustainability in as far as development projects are concerned. However, in most cases this ceases to exist during actual implementation of the projects. In Zimbabwe Jatropha production was started without fully rising
awareness to the local people, most of the women mentioned that they did not
know about the bio-diesel concept. Also, the project just came to a sudden end
without informing the local people who were involved in the project. It is argued in this paper that Jatropha production can be a sustainable project, which
has significant importance in terms of revitalising stagnant rural communities
at the local level. It was found that the project is still far from producing biodiesel for the nation however through the by-products rural women stand to
benefit income which would then empower them. Hence, there is need for a
clear policy which promotes the participation of women. It is important to set
the project with a mind of supporting the women right from the production
stage up to the marketing stage so that maximum benefits are derived from the
project by the women.
Also, biofuel production has been gaining a lot of importance lately and
most developing countries have also joined in. However, most countries started implementing these projects without informed policies. Looking at Mozambique it started without a clear policy and this caused a lot of conflicts in the
communities due to power relations, ‘Problems also became apparent with
large scale investors and the methods employed to access land of major concern is the lack of public participation, disregard for local culture and practices,
false promises, corruption land conflicts and land grabs’ (Ribeiro and Matavel,
2009:10). In some cases the local people actually were displaced from their
land in order to produce the biomass. It created a lot of patron and client relationships, something which is not in favour with community development.
This paper is indicative of the importance of considering community dynamics
and understanding how families with different interests and power relations
co-exist. The issue of class has influence in development projects hence attention also has to be paid to it. Given the limited resources available in most developing countries issues such as these are important to address in the biofuel
policy which at the moment is not yet passed as a comprehensive policy in
Zimbabwe.
Apparently, there were issues that this paper could not address empirically.
For example it brings out that there were political interests that were at play
from the beginning of this project but does not go further to look at what really transpired. Future research should also consider looking at the political
economy of the Jatropha project in line with women’s empowerment. Besides
looking at the national politics only, the organisations that are at play as well as
the women who are involved in the project could also be analysed and see how
the relationships that exist at all these levels can actually lead to women’s em35
powerment in this project. This could help to see how the politics surrounding
the Jatropha project could have impacted on women’s empowerment.
36
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3
Appendices
Appendix A: Semi – structured interview guide
Semi structured Interview questions for both women involved and not
involved in Jatropha Production
Part 1 – Identifying information
Date of Interview ………………………………………………………
Name of interviewee……………………………………………………
Name of HOH………………………………………………………….
Village……………………………………………………………………
District……………………………………………………………………
Part 2 – Household Information
1.
Age (years)……………………………………………………….
2.
Marital Status ……………………………………………………
3.
What is the number of people staying in this household………….
Part 3 – Regarding the extent to which women have access to resources
4.
Does your household have access to land for Agriculture?
Yes/ no…………………………………………………………..
5.
If Yes, what is your land size……………………………………..
6.
Who makes decisions over the use of land? ………………………
7.
What are the three main crops being grown by your household ……….
8.
Is your household currently growing Jatropha yes / No - to Q16……..
9.
What is land size under Jatropha? Hectares ………………………….
Part 4 – What are the terms of incorporation for women involved in
Jatropha Production?
10. For how long have you been growing Jatropha? Years ………………
11.
Is anyone supporting you in growing Jatropha? Yes/ No – Q13
4
12. Which organisations are supporting you and what kind of support are you
getting? …
13. What motivates you to grow Jatropha? Explain ………………………..
14. Are women from the community free to participate in Jatropha trainings?
Yes/No
15. If, Yes, What is/are the problems(s) …………………………………..
Question 16 – 18 For households not involved in Jatropha production
16. Why you are not involved in Jatropha production…………………….
17. Is it more profitable than Jatropha production……………………….
18.
How do you see the lives of women who are involved in Jatropha
produc ion, do you see major changes from the time they started until
now………
19. Did your household receive any training on Jatropha? Yes / No – Q19
20. Who in your household was trained?......................................................
(a)Respondent HoH (if not the same)
(c)N/A
(b) Other family member
21. If Yes, what was the training about.............................................?
From this question going down, Jatropha producers only
22. Who makes decisions over Jatropha production in your household?
(a) Women (b) Men
(c) Joint decision
23. Who decides on how proceeds from Jatropha can be used?
(a) Women (b) Men
(c) Joint decision
Part 5 - What has been the effect of Jatropha production on women in
terms of decision –making?
24. Who makes decisions on family issues in the household?
a) Women (b) Men
(c) Joint decision
25. Before joining the Jatropha project could you say you could take independent decisions in your household? Yes/ No explain……………………
26. Has there been any changes in your capacity to make decisions after engaging in the Jatropha project? Yes/ No Explain ……………………
5
Semi structured Interview questions for (ministry of Energy& Power
Development/NOCZIM & NGOs)
1. Name of Organisation …………………..
2. How many hectares of Jatropha have been planted in Mutoko to date
3. Do you think there will be an increase from this? Explain
4. in what ways has your organisation contributed to women’s empowerment
through the Jatropha project ………………………
5. Do you have any plans to fully involve women in Jatropha projects ……?
6. So far do you see any changes in women especially in terms of decision –
making
6
Appendix B: Field Pictures
Over 20years old Jatropha plant used as hedge around the garden (Field
survey, July 2010)
7
Jatropha bean seed, ready to be sold or pressed for oil (Field Survey, July,
2010)
8
Some of the women involved in Jatropha production – in Chindenga Village, Mutoko (Field survey, July 2010)
9
10